Rating: 
Summary: Tears everywhere
Review: The movie was incredible. I knew that it was going to be a sad ending.. it would have been more difficult to tolerate a happily ever after ending for the white audiences. Expecially during the time the movie was made. Although times have changed i think there is still a very strong 'discomfort' from society with different racial romances. The chemistry between william holden and jennifer jones was extraordinary and magnificent. Anyone who says otherwise doesn't know what attraction and chemistry is. I think the reason may have to do with the stars explosive relationship off-set. Supposedly Jennifer Jones was very aware of William's playboy ways of having an affair with his leading ladies. Jennifer wouldn't tolerate any of William's advances and that lead to them having firey relationship. Jennifer Jones would try to deter him from being attracted to her by chewing garlic cloves during the love scenes. When William Holden tried to give her a bouqet of white roses, she threw it back at him! My guess is that Jennifer was smart enough to know she didn't want to be involved with a playboy but was attracted to him neverthless. why else would she be so explosive and try so hard to keep him at bay? I think that was the ingredient to such amazing chemistry onscreen. They're both incredibly attracted to each other but couldn't go any farther than that. I mean she's absolutely stunning and beautiful in the movie and william holden is gorgeous and sexy as always. How could they not be attracted? The only thing i wasn't happy about was the china scenes. Talk about robots. Why did they make the chinese actors so stiff? Jennifer Jones's chinese was horrendous but of course that can be overlooked. I also didn't like the way Jennifer kept on stressing over and over that she's EurAsian. She kept saying it but the more it seemed she was European than anything else. Maybe a EurAsian who doesn't know much about China or Asians except maybe what she read about here and there. But i understand its hard to fully portray the nuances of an ethnicity that ur not. I couldn't stand William Holden's character when he couldn't get a divorce from his wife. That didn't make much sense. Sounds a little fishy there. It reminds me of Ms. Saigon where the lead white character profess undying love and then marries another woman his own race. While the asian girl never forgetting the love kills herself at the end. And the man explaining to his wife "it was just one of those thing when he was young, haha". JERK. I get so angry seeing all these asian prostitutes in american films. Its a bit refreshing to see a doctor in this one. Most asians are NOT prostitutes.. only a small handful-just like anywhere else in the world. Its only because american soldiers surrounded themselves in that atmosphere that thats the only thing they know about asian culture. Most respectable asian women never go near or see a prostitute for all of their lives. I get angry when i recall many caucasian men viewing asian women as cheap "china dolls".
Rating: 
Summary: views from an american asian woman
Review: The movie was incredible. I knew that it was going to be a sad ending.. it would have been more difficult to tolerate a happily ever after ending for the white audiences. Expecially during the time the movie was made. Although times have changed i think there is still a very strong 'discomfort' from society with different racial romances. The chemistry between william holden and jennifer jones was extraordinary and magnificent. Anyone who says otherwise doesn't know what attraction and chemistry is. I think the reason may have to do with the stars explosive relationship off-set. Supposedly Jennifer Jones was very aware of William's playboy ways of having an affair with his leading ladies. Jennifer wouldn't tolerate any of William's advances and that lead to them having firey relationship. Jennifer Jones would try to deter him from being attracted to her by chewing garlic cloves during the love scenes. When William Holden tried to give her a bouqet of white roses, she threw it back at him! My guess is that Jennifer was smart enough to know she didn't want to be involved with a playboy but was attracted to him neverthless. why else would she be so explosive and try so hard to keep him at bay? I think that was the ingredient to such amazing chemistry onscreen. They're both incredibly attracted to each other but couldn't go any farther than that. I mean she's absolutely stunning and beautiful in the movie and william holden is gorgeous and sexy as always. How could they not be attracted? The only thing i wasn't happy about was the china scenes. Talk about robots. Why did they make the chinese actors so stiff? Jennifer Jones's chinese was horrendous but of course that can be overlooked. I also didn't like the way Jennifer kept on stressing over and over that she's EurAsian. She kept saying it but the more it seemed she was European than anything else. Maybe a EurAsian who doesn't know much about China or Asians except maybe what she read about here and there. But i understand its hard to fully portray the nuances of an ethnicity that ur not. I couldn't stand William Holden's character when he couldn't get a divorce from his wife. That didn't make much sense. Sounds a little fishy there. It reminds me of Ms. Saigon where the lead white character profess undying love and then marries another woman his own race. While the asian girl never forgetting the love kills herself at the end. And the man explaining to his wife "it was just one of those thing when he was young, haha". JERK. I get so angry seeing all these asian prostitutes in american films. Its a bit refreshing to see a doctor in this one. Most asians are NOT prostitutes.. only a small handful-just like anywhere else in the world. Its only because american soldiers surrounded themselves in that atmosphere that thats the only thing they know about asian culture. Most respectable asian women never go near or see a prostitute for all of their lives. I get angry when i recall many caucasian men viewing asian women as cheap "china dolls".
Rating: 
Summary: Love is a Syrupy, Schmaltzy Thing
Review: This film looks great, and that's about where my praise ends."Love Is a Many Splendored Thing" came out in the very schizophrenic year of 1955, when candy-coloured nonsense like this co-existed with trail-blazing artistic fair like "Kiss Me Deadly." As a trend toward smaller, socially conscious films like "On the Waterfront" and "Marty" established itself in the mid-50's, other directors felt the need to stick with the unchallenging, pandering melodrama that classifies so many other films from that decade, and "Love" is one of the latter. This is the kind of 50's movie where the Technicolor is used to its garish utmost and the lighting is invariably high-key; even scenes taking place in a dark room or at night are brighter than the average sunny day. I never want to hear the theme song again, as it's played frequently enough over the course of the film to last anyone a lifetime, and I certainly don't want to hear it sung by the shrill, ear-piercing choir that belts it out over the end titles. Jennifer Jones and William Holden are passable, but really anybody could have played these parts. Jones' role is horribly written--her character is incredibly inconsistent, and it seems as if whenever her character is required to make a decision about something, the screenwriters flipped a coin to decide what that decision would be. People will undoubtedly tell me I'm taking this film too seriously, that I'm unromantic, etc. But I loved "All That Heaven Allows," released the same year and just as cornball in its own way, except that Douglas Sirk is able to turn melodrama into an art form, whereas Henry King (director of "Love") is not. I'm usually able to enjoy bad melodrama, but in this case I was just bored. Grade: D+
Rating:
Summary: Love is a Syrupy, Schmaltzy Thing
Review: This film looks great, and that's about where my praise ends. "Love Is a Many Splendored Thing" came out in the very schizophrenic year of 1955, when candy-coloured nonsense like this co-existed with trail-blazing artistic fair like "Kiss Me Deadly." As a trend toward smaller, socially conscious films like "On the Waterfront" and "Marty" established itself in the mid-50's, other directors felt the need to stick with the unchallenging, pandering melodrama that classifies so many other films from that decade, and "Love" is one of the latter. This is the kind of 50's movie where the Technicolor is used to its garish utmost and the lighting is invariably high-key; even scenes taking place in a dark room or at night are brighter than the average sunny day. I never want to hear the theme song again, as it's played frequently enough over the course of the film to last anyone a lifetime, and I certainly don't want to hear it sung by the shrill, ear-piercing choir that belts it out over the end titles. Jennifer Jones and William Holden are passable, but really anybody could have played these parts. Jones' role is horribly written--her character is incredibly inconsistent, and it seems as if whenever her character is required to make a decision about something, the screenwriters flipped a coin to decide what that decision would be. People will undoubtedly tell me I'm taking this film too seriously, that I'm unromantic, etc. But I loved "All That Heaven Allows," released the same year and just as cornball in its own way, except that Douglas Sirk is able to turn melodrama into an art form, whereas Henry King (director of "Love") is not. I'm usually able to enjoy bad melodrama, but in this case I was just bored. Grade: D+
Rating:
Summary: richly romantic lovely film
Review: This is a very richly romantic and great film, starring jennifer Jones and William Holden. It's amust see for all movie fans, especially of romance. The really have a great chemistry, a beautiful and poignant love story. The theme song is beauitufl as well.
Rating:
Summary: richly romantic lovely film
Review: This is a very richly romantic and great film, starring jennifer Jones and William Holden. It's amust see for all movie fans, especially of romance. The really have a great chemistry, a beautiful and poignant love story. The theme song is beauitufl as well.
Rating:
Summary: ANAMORPHIC TRANSFER - A MANY-SPLENDORED THING!
Review: When 20th Century-Fox initially released this film to DVD the 2:55:1 transfer was not enhanced for widescreen televisions. This new version of "Love Is A Many Splendored-Thing" corrects that oversight and gives us a comprehensive documentary on William Holden besides. The film concerns itself with a real life love story between Eurasian doctor, Han Sue-Yin (Jennifer Jones) and married American reporter, Mark Elliot (William Holden). Set in the unstable political climate of Hong Kong, and featuring some breaktaking cinematography, captured in all its Cinemascope glory, this film is a remarkably effective piece of fiction and, with its Oscar-winning title song, remains a sure fire hit.
Aside from its anamorphic enhancements, this new transfer doesn't make any quantum leaps forward in image quality. The initial print was remarkably smooth looking, save a few instances where film grain is a bit excessive. Edge enhancement, aliasing and shimmering details are kept to a bare minimum. Colors are very rich, vibrant and, for the most part, accurate, only occasionally giving way to orangy flesh tones. Pixelization is a problem from time to time. The audio is the same 4.0 as the previous disc - occasionally strident, but on the whole very well spread across all of the speakers.
As already stated, this disc includes a Biography special on William Holden that is remarkably comprehensive, considering its running time plays at under an hour. Image quality varies, according to the elements of film stock from the various movie clips used. There's also a theatrical trailer - badly dated, and a Movietones news reel of the film's premiere.
BOTTOM LINE: NICELY DONE FROM FOX THIS TIME AROUND. My only concern is this - as with all Fox movies previously issued to DVD, the source elements were cleaned up before their reissue. As in the case of "The Ghost & Mrs. Muir" (last month's studio classic release) the image quality of a first run DVD was bad to awful. I only hope that next month's release "The Song Of Bernadette" comes closer to "Love Is A Many-Splendored Thing" than "The Ghost And Mrs. Muir". I'll keep you posted.
Rating:
Summary: ANAMORPHIC TRANSFER - A MANY-SPLENDORED THING!
Review: When 20th Century-Fox initially released this film to DVD the 2:55:1 transfer was not enhanced for widescreen televisions. This new version of "Love Is A Many Splendored-Thing" corrects that oversight and gives us a comprehensive documentary on William Holden besides. The film concerns itself with a real life love story between Eurasian doctor, Han Sue-Yin (Jennifer Jones) and married American reporter, Mark Elliot (William Holden). Set in the unstable political climate of Hong Kong, and featuring some breaktaking cinematography, captured in all its Cinemascope glory, this film is a remarkably effective piece of fiction and, with its Oscar-winning title song, remains a sure fire hit.
Aside from its anamorphic enhancements, this new transfer doesn't make any quantum leaps forward in image quality. The initial print was remarkably smooth looking, save a few instances where film grain is a bit excessive. Edge enhancement, aliasing and shimmering details are kept to a bare minimum. Colors are very rich, vibrant and, for the most part, accurate, only occasionally giving way to orangy flesh tones. Pixelization is a problem from time to time. The audio is the same 4.0 as the previous disc - occasionally strident, but on the whole very well spread across all of the speakers.
As already stated, this disc includes a Biography special on William Holden that is remarkably comprehensive, considering its running time plays at under an hour. Image quality varies, according to the elements of film stock from the various movie clips used. There's also a theatrical trailer - badly dated, and a Movietones news reel of the film's premiere.
BOTTOM LINE: NICELY DONE FROM FOX THIS TIME AROUND. My only concern is this - as with all Fox movies previously issued to DVD, the source elements were cleaned up before their reissue. As in the case of "The Ghost & Mrs. Muir" (last month's studio classic release) the image quality of a first run DVD was bad to awful. I only hope that next month's release "The Song Of Bernadette" comes closer to "Love Is A Many-Splendored Thing" than "The Ghost And Mrs. Muir". I'll keep you posted.
Rating:
Summary: ANAMORPHIC TRANSFER - A MANY-SPLENDORED THING!
Review: When 20th Century-Fox initially released this film to DVD the 2:55:1 transfer was not enhanced for widescreen televisions. This new version of "Love Is A Many Splendored-Thing" corrects that oversight and gives us a comprehensive documentary on William Holden besides. The film concerns itself with a real life love story between Eurasian doctor, Han Sue-Yin (Jennifer Jones) and married American reporter, Mark Elliot (William Holden). Set in the unstable political climate of Hong Kong, and featuring some breaktaking cinematography, captured in all its Cinemascope glory, this film is a remarkably effective piece of fiction and, with its Oscar-winning title song, remains a sure fire hit.
Aside from its anamorphic enhancements, this new transfer doesn't make any quantum leaps forward in image quality. The initial print was remarkably smooth looking, save a few instances where film grain is a bit excessive. Edge enhancement, aliasing and shimmering details are kept to a bare minimum. Colors are very rich, vibrant and, for the most part, accurate, only occasionally giving way to orangy flesh tones. Pixelization is a problem from time to time. The audio is the same 4.0 as the previous disc - occasionally strident, but on the whole very well spread across all of the speakers.
As already stated, this disc includes a Biography special on William Holden that is remarkably comprehensive, considering its running time plays at under an hour. Image quality varies, according to the elements of film stock from the various movie clips used. There's also a theatrical trailer - badly dated, and a Movietones news reel of the film's premiere.
BOTTOM LINE: NICELY DONE FROM FOX THIS TIME AROUND. My only concern is this - as with all Fox movies previously issued to DVD, the source elements were cleaned up before their reissue. As in the case of "The Ghost & Mrs. Muir" (last month's studio classic release) the image quality of a first run DVD was bad to awful. I only hope that next month's release "The Song Of Bernadette" comes closer to "Love Is A Many-Splendored Thing" than "The Ghost And Mrs. Muir". I'll keep you posted.
Rating:
Summary: Get a bucket to cry into!
Review: when I first brought this film and started watching it I thought it was good not great. But the ending, the tragic ending and the swelling of the soundtrack made me cry and hit the replay button on my dvd player. The movie began to take shape for me once I realized the steps these two have taken to fall in love. The dialogue flows like modern Shakepeare and is wonderful to hear. Jones is at her best and it shows her subtle voice; it is neither weak nor nagging but this film belongs to love and to have it you need another person and at a key scene at a party we are introduced to Holden! Wow, this man was a master of presence and had such a natural flow to his acting. The intimate scenes of them on the way back from visiting one of Jones' friends are simply haunting. Under the moonlight and in a canoe Holden tells Jones "I will never do anything to hurt you" the tone and the expressions on both their faces are amazing. I love this flick and the setting is breathtaking. Just have a bucket and a towel to ring your tears into after the movie is over.
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